Berlin shows its colours in Helin Bereket’s shots of the cityscape

Turkish photographer Helin Bereket challenges Berlin’s reputation as The Grey City in her new series unearthing the capital’s colourful corners.

‘[Berlin’s] architecture is quite boring. This is why colourful buildings draw my attention’, says Bereket, who studied architecture in Istanbul before moving to the German capital eight years ago for her masters in art.

Photography: Helin Bereket

Photography: Helin Bereket

Photography: Helin Bereket

Photography: Helin Bereket

Photography: Helin Bereket

Photography: Helin Bereket

Photography: Helin Bereket

Photography: Helin Bereket

Photography: Helin Bereket

Photography: Helin Bereket

Photography: Helin Bereket

Photography: Helin Bereket

Bereket started seeking out the city’s more vibrant structures as an antidote to the sombre tones of the monochrome post-war buildings that surrounded her.

Among the sites she’s snapped are tower blocks clad in pastel hues and the the primary coloured balconies of a modern high-rise. Other flashes of colour come from paper streamers and street murals painted onto the sides of buildings.

Photography: Helin Bereket

‘I have an obsession with geometry and abstraction which consists of repetitive patterns and colours,’ she adds. ‘These colourful façades have it all together, and they’re very photogenic’.

‘Istanbul is huge, crowded, stressful and changing unbelievably fast, especially when it comes to the architectural appearance of the city,’ she says. ‘Berlin is smaller, and quite peaceful and stable in comparison.’

This project came to use via our hashtag #thespacesilike. Are you a photographer working on a project we’d like? Tag us on instagram or send us an email via submissions@thespaces.com